Composite building member



Dec. 19, 1939. 1 5 BREWER 2,184,137

COMPOSITE BUILDING MEMBER Filed Dec. 1, 19:56 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1Q IN VEN TOR. M 5. 6

Q. ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 19, 1939. A. s. BREWER COMPOSITE BUILDING MEMBER Filed Dec. 1, 1936 i l 1 gr E 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 17 Egg? INVENTOR MSG atenteci Dec. 19, 1939 i i UNITED STATES PATENTYOFFICE COMPOSITE BUILDING MEMBER Arthur S. Brewer, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to National Fireproofing Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application December 1, 1936, Serial No. 113,637

- 3 Claims. (Cl. 12-68) This invention relates to new and useful im- Fig. 13 a similar view of a modified form of provements in building structures, more partile ends; and ticularly to building units of tile assembled as Figs. 14 and 15 cross-sectional views of abutbeams for constructing building roofs, floors,, ting edges of tile shown in Figs. 6 and 7, repartitions, walls or the like. p ctive y. V

It is among the objects of the invention to With reference to Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive of the provide a building unit consisting of a plurality drawings, a beam generally designated by the of tile having a plain surface of maximum area numeral l is constructed of individual tile gen-' and a cross-sectional area of structural shape, erally designated by the numeral 2 having a which are assembled with their ends in abutting plain face 3 and a body portion, the cross-sec- 10 relation and joined by tie rods to form a unitary tional area of which is of structural shape, an column. embodiment shown in the drawings being of a A further object of the invention is to assemdouble T or channel construction with voids I ble a series of beams so constructed in a manner of slotted or circular form for receiving tie-rods II to form a roof or ceiling, or a floor, of plain 5, Figs. 1 and 2. Thetile is also preferably holll uninterrupted surface by assembling such units low as at 6, and provided with perforations I to on the building supports, such as on I-beams or .make it lighter, and may be provided with the like. tongues 8 and grooves 9 in the side faces there- Another and important object of the invenof. Tie rods 5 are provided with threaded ends tion is the provision of means whereby a plufor receiving nuts l0 acting against relatively rality of tile may be assembled by joining them large washers Illa, by means of which the tile 2 so with tie rods in a manner to prevent misis drawn up to form a unitary beam. alignment due to irregularities of the abutting Due to irregularities in the surfaces ll formfaces of the tile by providing a resilient mateing the end faces of fired clay tile blocks 2, such 26 rial either in plastic or preformed condition, blocks cannot be assembled and drawn-up 5 which is interposed adjacent the end faces of square. Furthermore, if the blocks 2 are assem.

the blocks. bled with their juxtaposed faces in abutment,

These and other objects of the invention will e tensio of the eods 5 acting po the become more apparent from t accompanying portions of the end faces contacting each other 30 drawings constituting a part hereof in whi h will set up localized stresses or strains in the 30 like reference characters designate like parts beam- T0 Overcome these difficulties, a alignand in which: ing material I2 is interposed adjacent the end Fig 1 is a View in perspective of a building faces ll of the tile so as to render the tile more unit of tile block embodying the principles of less Self-aligning. and Su a a may this invention; either be a plastic substance having the char- 35 Fig. 2 a perspective view of an end portion of actenstlcs of qmckly setting t tile have aplurality of such units assembled in their manbeen assembled it may be m the form of of use; gasket material of resilient quality preformed by Fig. 3 a view in perspective of a tile block of stamPing or otherwise as shown in 4 of h 40 which the beams are constructed; drawings, such gasket being designated by the 40 numeral l3 and being of substantially the same cross-sectional area as the tile block, the emer material for use between the end faces of bodl-ment of Fig 4 being provided with permm abutting tions l4 in t ad of S1 t 4 i th type Fig. 5 a plan view of an assembly of building Fig S e o s o 6 shown in Fig. 4 a view in perspective of a gasket of fillunits forming a T001 floor Structure of a The tie-rod voids such as the slots I or perbuilding; forations ll of the tile and resilient material are Figs. 6, '7, 8 and 9 front elevational views of preferably of such dimensions as t provide a a modified form of tile adapted fo use in clearance space around the tie-rods 5 and the stru ti s smooth uninterrupt d ilin s: latter may be coated with pitch or other rust- 50 Figs. 10 and 11 plain views of the tile shown proofing materials before assembling in the rows in Figs. 8 and 9, respectively; of tile. To construct a roof or other horizontal Fig. 12 a sectional elevational view illustratpartition of the tile beam as shown in Fig. 1, ing bolted ends of a pair of beams supported on they are assembled in the manner shown in Fig. an I-beam: 2 with the tongues and grooves 8 and 9 of ad- 55 jacent tile interacting in the manner shown. A mortar or other substance may be poured or otherwise interposed in the tonguesand grooves to provide an uninterrupted finished surface. When assembling the beams as shown in Fig. 2, they are preferably staggered as shown in Fig. 5 to displace the ends of the tie-rods relative to each other, thereby reducing the space between the ends of the beams to a minimum.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the beams are assembled on I-beams I5, and after assembly constitute a unitary floor, roof or other partition member.

While the tile and beam assembly shown in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive are especially adapted for roof construction, the principle of the invention may be applied in the construction of roofs or ceilings having a plain uninterrupted surface. To this end, the form of tile and manner of assembly illustrated in Figs. 6 to 15 inclusive may be employed, the form shown in Figs. 6 and '7 having upper and lower plain surfaces I6 and II which constitute a floor and ceiling, respectively, or a roof and ceiling, as the'case may be. These tile are provided with straight abutting faces l8, Fig. 6, and I9 Fig. '7', the faces l8 being recessed at 20 and the faces l9 beveled at 2| so that in assembly they form spaces or grooves for grout 22, which is poured therein in a semi-liquid state. The tile of Fig. 6 is provided with a single central perforation 23 for receiving the tie-rods 5, the end face of the tile being recessed at 24, Figs. 10 and 12, to receive the ends of the juxtaposed tie rods when the beams in which the tile are formed are assembled on the I-beams I5. The recesses may be at both ends of the tile, as shown in Fig. 13, so that the ends of the beams may be assembled on the I-beams without staggering, as shown in Fig. 5, and without interference of the tie-rod ends. In the form of construction of tile of Fig. 7, perforations 25 are provided in pairs to receive the tie rods in the manner of the T-shaped tile of Figs. 1 to 5 and a central web 26 is provided with a slotted opening 21, which constitutes a line of cleavage along which the tile may be supplied.

Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate the uninterrupted surface tiles of Figs. 6 and 7 provided with tongues and grooves 28 and 29, respectively, for interlocking the assembled beams when placed upon the I-beam supports. The tile of Figs. 8 and 9 are also provided with the recesses 20 and bevels 2|, which form a space for pouring grout after the assembled beams are mounted in cooperative abutting relation on the building and supports.

Although several embodiments of the invention are herein shown and described, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that other structural shapes may be utilized. The double T-shape shown in the drawings provides for large compression stresses at the top of the building unit to counteract the tension of the reenforcing members therein, which are preferably located at the bottom of the unit.

I claim:

1. A building unit comprising a plurality of tile block having an uninterrupted surface on one side and channeled on the opposite side thereof, the legs of the channel portion being perforated, tie-rods disposed through the perforations of said blocks spaced from the walls of said blocks and extending the full length of the plurality of blocks to constitute reenforcement therein, filler material interposed adjacent the end faces of said blocks out of contact with the body of said rods, and means on said tierods for drawing said blocks against said filler material to constitute said blocks and rods a unitary beam.

2. A building unit comprising a plurality of tile block having an uninterrupted surface on one side and channeled on the opposite side thereof, the legs of the channel portion being perforated, tie-rods disposed through the perforations of said blocks spaced from the walls of said blocks and extending the full length of the plurality of blocks to constitute reenforcement therein, resilient gaskets of the cross-sectional shape of the blocks interposed adjacent the end faces of said blocks and spaced from said tierods, and means on said tie-rods for drawing said blocks against said gaskets to constitute said blocks and rods a unitary beam.

3. A building unit comprising a plurality of tile block having plain, top and end faces and a cross section of structural shape, said tile having longitudinal voids for receiving tie-rods common to all of said tile, filler material interposed adjacent the end faces only of said tile and tie-rods for joining said tile extending through said voids and filler material, said rods being of less cross-sectional dimension than the voids in the tile and having screw threaded ends for receiving screw nuts, and washers of relatively large diameter disposed between the nuts and end faces of the tile to distribute the compressive strain over a relatively large area of said tile.

ARTHUR S. BREWER. 

